Transferring apple tree fron container into the ground

[new gardener 1052]

Hello all
So I've got a James grieves apple tree on M26, I have had the tree in a large container for about 10 months now it's grown well since I've had it and it seams happy, but I'm thinking of putting it into the ground and fan training against a south facing fence.....

Any tips to help me along the way would be great, what do you guys think should I go for it or not?

Cheers
Steve.

[chrisdb]

You say train as an espalier. How has it been trained so far, and does it have any existing branches?

[BUFFS]

Dig a hole half as big again as the size of the pot it sits in, sprinkle a handful of bonemeal around the bottom of the hole and loosen the earth, sprinkle another handful on the excavated soil and plant your tree in the hole. I did this to my James grieves apple some years ago and it has really thrived. The bonemeal gives the trees nourishment as they knew this hundreds of years ago when the monks were always buried under an apple tree, to feed the tree for years. We only finished our last years James grieves apples quite recently, they start very tart tasting and sweeten in storage..lovely..

[Jungle Jane]

I think it will be a lot happier in the ground than in a pot,go for it!! Fan trained trees look nice & they catch the sun better.

[new gardener 1052]

You say train as an espalier. How has it been trained so far, and does it have any existing branches?

Hi Chris it was bought as a bush I have tied branches in horizontal position and cut off some I didn't want it's kinda like fan shape now.